Star Trek: Voyager: Elogium
"Elogium" is the fourth episode of season two of the UPN television series Star Trek: Voyager and the nineteenth episode of the series overall. It was directed by Winrich Kolbe and written by Kenneth Biller, Jeri Taylor, Jimmy Diggs and Steve J. Kay. It first aired on Monday, September 18th, 1995. In this episode, the crew of Voyager encounter a swarm of space-borne alien life forms that generate an electromagnetic wave that traps the ship in their wake. Meanwhile, Kes prematurely undergoes the Elogium, the stage of development in Ocampan females where their bodies prepare to bear offspring. If she doesn't find a mate soon, she may forever lose her chance to ever bear children. Synopsis Aboard Voyager, Chakotay runs across two crewmen in the turbolift making out. The male crew member is clearly flustered over being caught by an executive officer, but Chakotay lets it slide. However, he reports the incident to Captain Janeway and wonders if it would be prudent to employ a policy about fraternization between crew members. Janeway is reluctant to endorse such a philosophy in lieu of their present situation. Moreover, it is more than likely that many crew members will begin to pair off the more time they spend in the Delta Quadrant. In the mess hall, Tom Paris walks Kes to Neelix's station. The two are clearly enjoying each other's company, which does not go unnoticed by the usually jovial Talaxian. Neelix grows extremely jealous of Kes and Tom's friendship and snaps at her. Kes doesn't appreciate Neelix's harsh tone and leaves the mess hall in a state of agitation. On the bridge, the crew scans a nearby swarm of space-borne life forms - animal organisms that can actually thrive and travel in deep space. Perceiving no immediate threat, Janeway orders the ship close to conduct a closer analysis. She brings xenobiologist Samantha Wildman onto the bridge so she can offer her expert opinion on the life forms. The life forms begin projecting waves of intense electromagnetic radiation as they move and Voyager is caught in their wake. They try to break free under impulse power, but find they are now locked on course, forced to follow the life forms wherever they may go. Meanwhile, Kes begins exhibiting strange behavior. She is consumed by a ravenous hunger and eats everything she can get her hands on. Neelix comes to visit her and takes note of her erratic condition. Kes cannot explain it, but also cannot stop herself from shoving food into her mouth - even flowers. When Neelix learns that she has even taken to eating spawn beetles, he grows fearful and immediately brings her down to sick bay. Kes' condition grows more serious as she develops a sharp fever. The Emergency medical hologram tries to conduct a diagnosis, but his lack of knowledge about Ocampan biochemistry and Neelix's pestering make it nearly impossible for him to effectively treat her. Exasperated, he banishes Neelix from sick bay. loses his patience, but not his patients!]] Neelix is greatly offended at being summarily dismissed by a hologram and takes his complaint directly to Captain Janeway. At first, Janeway is more concerned about the space phenomena than with Neelix's complaints, but when he says that Kes has been stricken with an unidentifiable illness, she leaves the bridge for sick bay. When they arrive, they find that Kes has barricaded herself behind a force field and even the Doctor cannot get to her. She is in a state of shock and is barely able to speak. The Doctor tells Janeway that her blood pressure is abnormally high and that she is suffering from increased electrophoretic activity - possibly brought on by Voyager's exposure to the space swarm. Moreover, he has discovered a bizarre growth on the back of her shoulder. Janeway manages to calm Kes to the point that she is willing to let down the force field. Kes explains that she is entering a stage of development known as the elogium. This is a growth cycle in which an Ocampan female's body is preparing itself for procreation. This presents a grave problem however as it should only take place in Ocampans age 4-6, but Kes is not even 2. They determine that the increased electrophoretic activity has hyper-accelerated Kes' maturation levels. This however leads to a more difficult problem. The elogium takes place during an Ocampan's life cycle only once. If Kes is to ever bear children, she must do so now. She has less than 50 hours to select a mate and begin the process or else her chance to become a mother will be lost forever. Naturally, Neelix is Kes' choice for a mate. When she explains the situation to him, Neelix grows uncomfortable. He's uncertain if the two of them are even genetically compatible with one another, but moreover, he is not sure that he is even prepared to be a father. The more they discuss the matter, the more Neelix gives the impression that he does not wish to be a father, which greatly distresses Kes. Neelix's mind is reeling and he seeks advice from a most unusual source - Tuvok. !]] Meanwhile, Voyager is no closer to breaking away from the space swarm's undertow than they were before. B'Elanna Torres suggests putting together an inverted magnetic field that can be attached to the forward deflector dish in the hopes of generating an EM pulse that might push the ship free. Janeway gives her the order to put it together. Time passes and B'Elanna's crew complete the inverse magnetic field. They activate it, but the space swarm creatures react by attaching themselves to the warp nacelles of the ship, slowly draining its power. As they travel, Tuvok reports the presence of a larger organism in their approaching vicinity. The creature is of the same race as the others, but is significantly larger - nearly the size of Voyager herself. The bridge crew surmise that this is either a parent of the swarm aliens or a member of a different breed or gender. As they creatures no present a clear and present danger to the ship, Janeway orders Tuvok to launch photon charges. When this fails to yield results, Chakotay reports that the smaller creatures are reacting to Voyager as if it were they're mother. He suggests a new strategy. They decide to go into a roll and vent plasma residue to mimic the behavior of the smaller creatures. The tactic works and the small life forms detach themselves from Voyager 's nacelles and gravitate towards the larger animal. As the swarm disperses, Voyager is free of its magnetic wake. Elsewhere, Neelix puts a lot of thought into the prospect of becoming a father and reaches the conclusion that he is actually quite open and excited about the prospect. He goes to Kes to tell her the news, but now it is Kes who reveals that she is not quite ready for motherhood. Fortunately, the increased electrophoretic activity caused by the swarm prompted symptoms of a false positive of the elogium. Kes believes that she will go through the elogium once again when her body is ready. Later, Ensign Wildman comes to Captain Janeway's ready room. She feels it is her responsibility to inform her that she is with child. She conceived prior to the beginning of Voyager 's mission and only recently became aware of it. Janeway reflects some more on the realistic notion that Voyager may one day become a generational ship and tells Ensign Wildman "Congratulations". Cast Principal Cast Guest Stars Notes & Trivia * This episode is included on disc one of the Star Trek: Voyager: Season Two DVD collection. * Stardate:48921.3 * Production code number: 118 * The Ocampan "Elosium" is a reference to not only the female reproductive cycle, but also puberty in general. * First appearance of Ensign Samantha Wildman. She appears next in "Tattoo". * This episode reveals that Tuvok has four children. * Tom Paris refers to Janeway as "Ma'am" in this episode. As indicated in the pilot episode "Caretaker", Janeway hates to be called Ma'am. * Includes a cameo appearance of Mark Johnson in a photograph. Allusions * Captain Janeway tells Chakotay that she hopes Mark hasn't given her up for dead. Mark Johnson is Captain Janeway's boyfriend back on Earth. He was introduced in the series pilot episodes "Caretaker" where he was played by Stan Ivar. What else have they done? * This is the sixth episode of Star Trek: Voyager directed by Winrich Kolbe. The last episode he directed was "Initiations". The next episode directed by Kolbe is "Resistance". * First episode of the series co-written by Steve J. Kay. He also co-writes the season 4 episode "The Omega Directive" with Jimmy Diggs. * In addition to co-writing six episodes of Star Trek: Voyager in total, Jimmy Diggs also writes the story for the season 5 episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine "Doctor Bashir, I Presume?". * Terry Correll also plays a crewman in the season 2 episode "Twisted". Quotes * Tuvok: What is the lunch special today? * Neelix: Well, actually, I didn't get around to making a lunch special. But we have some lovely gabarosti stew left over from last night. * Tuvok: Very well. It will do. * Neelix: I've... had quite a run on it, as a matter of fact. It seems very popular. * Tuvok: If it is all you are serving, that would stand to reason. .... * Captain Janeway: We're a long way from home. Everyone is lonely, and... all we have is each other. I think, eventually people will begin to pair off. * Chakotay: Including you? * Captain Janeway: As Captain, that's a luxury I don't have. See also External Links * * "Elogium" at Wikipedia * "Elogium" at Memory Beta * "Elogium" at Memory Alpha * "Elogium" at TV Guide * "Elogium" at TV.com Guide * "Elogium" at TV Rage.com Guide * "Elogium" at the Star Trek Database Category:1995/Episodes Category:September, 1995/Episodes